ACQUISITION (Pro Forma Financial Information) (Details) - USD ($)		3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
		May 31, 2019	May 31, 2018	May 31, 2019	May 31, 2018
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Pro forma net income attributable to noncontrolling interest		$ (27,000)	$ 22,000	$ 59,000	$ 22,000
Pro Forma [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Pro forma total revenues			791,413,000		2,410,581,000
Pro forma net income attributable to PriceSmart, Inc.	[1]		15,778,000		46,202,000
Pro forma net income attributable to noncontrolling interest			124,000		415,000
Post-combination compensation expense			723,000		2,200,000
Remaining purchase price contingency			$ 3,800,000		$ 3,800,000

[1] Includes the pro forma recognition of $723,000 and $2.2 million post-combination compensation expense, which represents three and nine months of continued service amortization required to satisfy the $3.8 million remaining purchase price contingency